The Death of Courtesy
A poem about modern sensitivity
America’s New War
A reaction to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America, written shortly after the attacks.
Pursuit of Happiness
Essay on natural rights with a focus on the Pursuit of Happiness.
A World Without Pain
An essay in reaction to the New Orleans disaster following hurricane Katrina.
Ambitions and Weekends
Essay on being self-aware and realizing that the human psyche has some hardwired contradictions and paradoxes.
The other end of life
An emotional editorial by Shawn Olson about old age originally printed in the Messenger.
Software Activation, Licensing and Piracy
The problem with software activation systems in the Internet Age and the inflated claims that piracy costs billions of dollars a year.
Rock Music IS Folk Art.
Essay tracing path of folk music to modern rock.
Reflections on the precariousness of life
Philosophical essay on life and death sparked by a family trip where a pigeon collided with the car and we had a flat tire.
